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[ELEGRAPHERS THREATEN
NATION-WIDE WIRE STRIKE
because of affillation with a labor:
organization investigated by postof
fice inspectors, who have no interest
in the dispute other than to ascertain
the truth. I have confidence in their
ability and integrity when they report
+to me, and I am urging that they do
'so as promptly as possible., I will act
at once with a view of seeing that
the order against discrimination is
gtrictly enforced.”
* Predictions of the strikers that all
strikebreakers would be concentrated
in Atlanta when the strike was
spread to other Southeastern cities
ard that the Atlanta Western Union
office alone would be supplied with
telegraphers, were borne out by
events Thursday night and Friday
morning, when many large Western
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104 Whitehall St., Cor. Mitchell
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN
Continued From Page 1.
Union offices throughout the South
eastern States were closed,
The order for a general walkout
i*\] all Southeastern States was is
sued late Thursday afternoon by
i'resident Konenkamp. First news of
‘} e proposed walkout of Western Un
ion telegraphers was contained in the
final extra of The Georgian Thursday.
WILD ENTHUSIAM,
At the Labor Temple, where many
of the largest labor organizations
were gathering for important meet
ings, including the newly formed
Shop Federation, the news was re
ceived with wild enthusiasm and the
business of the moment was entirely
abandoned while members of affili
ated trades unions staged demonstra-
tions in behalf of the striking tele
graph and telephone workers. Com
mittees representing the Telephone
Operators’ Association of the Com
mercial Telegraphers’ Union who ap
peared before the various labor crafts
of the local federation were ‘'given
ovations in every hall,
According to strike leaders, imme
diately upon receipt of the news that
telegraphers in all Southeastern cit
fos were walking out, a number of
men who were sent to Atlanta from
other cities to aid in breaking the
local strike, walked out and reported
to union headquarters for registra
tion on the strike lists,
No inquiries as to strike matters
involving questions of policy would be
answered Friday by H. C. Worthen,
general manager of the Western Un
icr in Atlanta. He declared an au
thoritative statement would be forth
coming quickly from Newcomb Carl
ton, president of the Western Union.
Mr (arlton was understood to be in
conference with his advisers formu
lating the new policy.
There were no developments local
ly, according to the general manager.
Ile declared himself to be satisfled
with the turn of events, stating that
there were but 147 employvees on
strike in Atlanta, of whom 70 were
operators.
More than a hundred strikebreakers
had arrived before noon Thursday
and about a hundred others came in
auring the afternoon from New York
and other cities. About half of these,
union leaders declared, will refuse to
go to work. They are quartered by
the Western Union at the Piedmont
and the Ansley hotels, where they
are well guarded agagnst possible
danger from strike sympathizers, |
SPIRITED INTO CITY. {
The “strikebreakers' special” from
New York, which came in over the
Southern Railway during the after
noon Thursday, was met and stopped
at Chamblee by the Western Union
officials with automobiles to drive
them into the city. On account of
the large crowds who were gathered
hoth a Brookwood station and the
Terminal Station awaiting the ar
rival of the strikebreakers, it was
found advisable to remove them from
the train before reaching Atlanta and
spirit them into the city secretly. No
violence toward the strikebreakers
had been threatened, however,and only
small committees had been sent by
the union to meet and inform them
that a strike was on here.
When interviewed at the hotels by
representatives of the Commercial
Telegraphers’ Union Thursday eve
ning, the imported operators vigor
ously denied that hey came here
with intent to act as strikebreakers.
MANY OFFICES CLOSED.
Telegrams were received at general
strike headquarters in batches of a
dozen or more at a time bearing the
news of walk-outs everywhere in re
sponse to the strike order. Charles
ton and Tampa reported at 7 o'clock
that every man on duty had walked
out. Winston-Salem wired that ev
ery telegrapher was out and the of
fice permanently closed, and Spartan
burg sent a similar message. Char
lotte wired that every man on duty
with the exception of three office
ressengers—not telegraphers—had
answered the strike call. New Or
leans wired that everyone was out.
More than a hundred other messages
were received announcing complete
walk-outs and the closing of offices.
THIRTY-ONE GO OUT.
It was reported that thirty-one
new accessions to the ranks of the
strikers here were made Friday morn
ing when that number of adidtional
women workers walked out from the
Western Union and Southern Bell of -
ficeghand made application for mem
bership into the Commercial Teleg
raphers’ Union and Telephone Opera
tors' Association. Strike leaders
predicted that by the time the nation
wide strike is called, every Atlanta
worker employed in the local tele
graph and telephone offices will be
out. L
A mass meeting and religious
service for the strikers to be held
Sunday morning is being planned.
The publie will be invited. The larg
est church or hall available in the
city is to be secured and music will
Le furnished for the occasion by, the
local branch of the American Federa
tion of Musicians.
Both officials of the telephone and
telegraph companies expressed pleas
ure that the lines had been turned
back to private ownership so that
the former owners might be free to
make a fight against the union. Lo
cal union officers also expressed
pleasure at that development as clar
ifyinz the ‘issue and removing the
Government as a factor to be con
sidered in the fight.
An expression in this connectiog
by 8. J. Konenkamp, , international
president of the telegraphers, was
received by local leaders as follows:
~ “The action of Mr. Burleson In re
storing operating control to the ex
ecutives of the telegraph and tele
phon? compmnies in the face of a
threatened nation-wide strike because
of his policies, would indicate that
he is a quitter, Mr. Burleson's get
ting out from under doesn’t change
our situation, It aggravates it.
“The fact that it places Newcomb
Carlton back in charge of the West
ern Union without first establishing
a labor poliecy which will protect the
workers emphasizes the necessity for
a telegraph strike against the com
pany. It will be remembered that it
was Carlton’s locking out 1,000 mem
bers of our union in 1918 that pre
cipitated Government control of the
wires, and now to restore the status
quo ante without solving the labor
problem adds to the disgrace of the
wire administration,
FIGHT TO FINISH. |
“We know that we are confronted
now with a fight to a finish with the
Western Union. We will have to fight
for our life as a labor union, and we
are going to strike before Carlton
gets a chance to plag his old game.
“It is with this in n*nd that T have
sanctioned an immediate strike ot
Western Union workers in the (-murh-‘
eastern States and the rest of the
eountry will not be far behind." ‘
C. ¥. Mann, third international
president of the Commercial Tuleg-‘
raphers’ Union, declared, upon receipt
of the news tiat the wires were to be
turned back.
“Mr, Burleson could not but have
been convinced after receiving the
full facts in the Atlanta difficulty
that the union was so absolutely in
the right that the American people
would no stand for any further defl
ance of law and order on his part
and that his sole salvation in the
matter lay in shifting the responsi
bility for the wire debacle to the
former telegraph and telephone com
panies,
“While the commercial telegra
phers favor Government ownership
of the means of electrical communi
cation, they do not believe in mere
@)1 48 $2
5"’4.1@7095@/5!?
R\ A kraz 4R
A Clean Newspaper for Southern Homes
Government/ control, especially of
the Burleson type, under which beth
the public and the Government to
gether with the employees were vic
“timized in the interests of “private
ownership. We ave Inveed very
glad to see the issue clarified by the
return of the wires to their former
owners,
MUST FACE ISSUE.
“The former wire owners can no
longer hide behind: the skirts of the
Government with their refusal to
deal fairly with the employees. They
must face the issue squarely am’
pay for their own fight Insleaoho
mulcting® the Government treasury
|to break the backbone of the work
ers,
l “There is no strike against the
Postal and we will put as many op
erators in those offices as may be
necessary to handle the public husi
ness. The strike order has gone out
to all logals and district councils of
the union throughout the Southeast
and becomes effective at once. We
expect *every telegrapher in the
Southeast employed by the Western
Union —probably 12.000—will walk
out and the tie-up will be completely
effected by noon of Kriday.
“The strike necessarily will be of
short duration. President Carlton
may be boastful for a few days, but
with such people business is busi
ness, and he will give in as the re
ceipts go down and volumes of new
business go into the Postal offices.
“We will win the fight against the
Southern Bell and the Western Union
because we are thoroughly organized
and fully determined. The Western
Union may have several milion dol
lars with which to fight us, but where
they have millions they should have
billions. The strike of 1907 cost them 1
more money than they have set aside
to fight this movement, and at thutl
time we were not one-fifth as well |
organized as a the present time, We |
are well content with the situation in ]
Atlanta. l
| LABOR TEMPLE THRONGED.
- The two local units of the (‘ommor-l
cial Telegraphers’ Union and Tele
phone Operators’ Assoclation assem
bled Friday morning at the Labor
emple and went into executive ses
sion at 10 o'clock. The halls of the
Labor Temple were thronged with
singing girls long before the opening
hour of the meeting, and, with a West
ern Union striker at the piano, were
engaged in dancing in the auditorium.
“Whatever we may say or what
ever company officials may say will{
not affect the outecome of the strike,”
said P. G. Fonville, president of the
Atlanta District Council. “It will do
the Western Union no good and will
not aid them in moving business to
say that they are not affected by the
strike. It would not do us any good,
JioT would it prevent the movement
of a certain amount of business to say
that everyone was out and the c‘om-l
pany was tied up. Strikes are never
entirely 100 per cent effective when
they cover so large an area, nor are
they absolute failures as painted by
the employers.
- “The ultimate test is whether the|
- Western Union and Southern Belll
‘will be able to hold out longer than
we can. At this time we feel our
‘selves able to hold out indefinitely,
!and that no one is suffering from the
effects of the strike but the stock
‘holders of the Western Union and
Southern Bell, who used poor judg
'ment in the election of their officers.”
Striking Telegraphers
Have Own Grievances
Besides their sympathy with the
local telephone operators who have!
Statement of Condition of the
‘ @
Fulton National Bank
at the Close of Business June 4th, 1919
ASSETS
Loans and Discounts $3,505,951.47
Overdrafts 9,097.67
U. S. Bonds and Treas.
Certificates 1,024,500.00
Bonds, Securities, etc. 71,772.52
Real Estate, Furniture
and Fixtures 40,000.00
Cash on Hand, Due From
Banks and U. S.
Treasury 1,754,981.61
$6,406,303.27
DEPOSITS at the Close of Business June 4, 1919, $5,103,383.52
DEPOSITS at the Close of Business June 4, 1918, _7’;_3_,§25,816.5l
INCREASE in One Year $1,427,567.01
The above figures reflect the helpful and satisfactory policy of this bank, as well as the prosperity of its ens
tomers. We respectfully invite the accounts of Firms, Corporations and Individual; “e&iring to establish or ex
tend their banking relations in Atlanta. i
Fulton National Bank
WILLIAM J. BLALOCK, President
A.B.SIMMS - - - Vice-President HENRY B. KENNEDY - - Cashier
BOLLING H. JONES - Vice-President RYBURN G. CLAY - - Asst. Cashier
walked out, the striking telegraphers
have grievances of their own, aceord
ing to the following statement of
seven objects for which they are con
tending:
1, The right to belong to a labor
union without any restriction and no
interfercnce with legitimate trade
union activities,
2. The right of colléctive bargain
ing through the trade unions repre
senting the telegraph and telephone
|workm~s and not through company
‘controlled associations organized to
‘defeat the aims of the workers.
. 8. The reinstatement of all workers
discharged in 1918 and 1919 for mem
’bersh:n in a trade union or for legiti
‘mate (rade union activities.
| 4. Compensation for time lost by all
[Wl\rkvrs who were discharged for the
reason given in No. 3.
6. An increase in pay sufficient to
meet rht increased cost in living
gince 1915,
6. Standardization of salaries with
'a wage scale which will stop the in
idivhhm! wage reductions now being
put into effect.
7. Rules governing working condi
|llom~ wherchy the rights of the work
ers will be defined and guaranteed,
which is the only means of stopping
petiy tyrannies and persecutions now
being practiced in many sections of
the country.
[ P
Congress “Up in the
g - -
Air” Over Situation
Members of Congress who were
fdentified with wire legislation were
frankly “up in the air” today. The
unexpected order returning the lines
to their owners had shot their pro
gram to pieces, and some were of the
opinion that no 'egislation of any
kind would now be necessgry. It was
their understanding, they said, that
the lines were to go back only fol
lowing the enactment of legislation.
Senator Kellogg's bill providing fori
the return of the wires, with existing
rates to remain in effect sixty days,l
was to have been called up in the
Senate this afternoon.
The Interstate Commerce commit
tee was to map out its plan of pro
cedure late today. Chairman Cum
mins expressed the belief that Bur
leson’s order might make the commit
tee's bill for the return of the lines
unnecessary now. :
Senator Kellogg refused to express
an opinion “until after he had stud
ied the matter.”
“Mr. Burleson probably knew the
repeal bil would be passed immedi
ately,” was his only comment,
Copeland Offers
Services to Strikers
‘ Rogs Copeland, of Augusta, presi
’dent of the Georgia State Federation
of Labor, has tendered his services to
'the striking telephone operators in
Atlanta and asked for the latest de
velopments in the situation. The of
fer came in the following telegram
to Miss Rosa Hickey, international
organizer of the telephone operators:
| “Tender my services to the strik
ling telephone operators in Atlanta.
Wire result.”
Company Says
Conditions Improved
Telephone officials stated Friday
that there has been no change in the
strike situation, so far as the com
pany is concerned, except that the
service continues to improve.
“The shortage of regular operators
continues, but, with the aid of sub
stitutes, we have every position
filled,” one of the officals remarked.
FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 1919,
“The public is co-operating with us,
and we are striving to make the serv
ice as efficient as possible under the
‘olr(-umsmm{::l. The loyalty of the
employees, 'who are sticking by the
ecompany and serving the public, re-
Jmains unshaken.”
- Announcement was made that no
official word had come to the com
pany Iriday from Postmaster Gen
eral Burleson concerning the turning
back of the wires to the owners,
100 Men Quit
At Jacksonville
JACKSONVILLE, FLA, June 6.—
Jacksonville was in the midst of two
strikes and threatened with a third
this morning when the Western Un
fon telegraph operators left their
work,
Telephone operators struck several
days ago and are still out. A third
‘atrilie by the car men is said to be
contemplated today. About 100 West
fern Union operators are out and ev
ery messenger boy of the service re
fused to carry telegrams., They are
riding through the business section of
the ¢ity trying to get recruits for
their cause, The telephone girls,
numbering about 50, left their booths
some days ago and although theh
strike is effective, nmhin_g serious has
occurred,
10 Telegraphers
i« W
Quit in Savannah
L SAVANNAH, June 6-—The West
'ern Union operators’ strike reached
Savannah at noon today, when ten
Morse men and one multiplex girl
quit. While the management stated
' the strikers had made no statement
Store Closes at One o’Clock Saturday—Shop Early :
Speclal Gcorgette Blouses
.
for Saturday Morning
These are fresh, new Blouses of real beauty—white, flesh
and some dark colors. The models are embroidered, beaded,
braided. Most of them are the preferred collarless style and
they are of good quality Georgette. ;
This about tells their story—exeept that.their price is quite
a tidy bit below what it normally should be. O Ay Ae il
These are Blouses on which ’ :
vou save more than a third 398
of the usual price. Special ... .
Chamberlm—]ohnson-Dußose Co.
86-96 Whitehall
LIABILITIES
Capital Stock - $ 500,000.00
Surplus and Undivided :
Profits 175,461.25
Dividends Unpaid 51.00
Circulation 499,997.50
Due Federal Reserve Bank on
Treasury Certificates and
Liberty Loan Bonds 127,410.00
DEPOSITS 5,103,383.52
, $6,406,303.27
as to why they quit, the strikers
themselves emphasized the fact it
was in sympathy with the Atlanta
situation and others elsewhere. The
company reported there was no de
lay on its principal lines because of
the strike,
beaii s .
Strike Is Failure,
Carlton Declares
(By International News Service.)
NEW YORK, June 6.—The strike
ior telegraph operators in the South
eastern States is “a flat failure,”
L
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Says: A
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Rain or shine, always on time.
Investigate!
The Capital City Laundry and Cleanery.
M. 1050 M. 1050
Newcomb Carlton, president of the
Western Union, declared today.
“We have not felt the effeécts of
the walkout,” said Carlton, “We will
control the situation and deliver our
business, Not a man who leaveés the
Western Union in this attempt t 6 em«
barrass the country will ever be per=
mitted to return.” .
Carlton said his reports showed
that 90 per cent of the normal work
ing force was on duty at New Ore
leans and thut in Atlanta there are
more men available than they have
positions to fill.
5