tion of this time a scale committee was appointed by No. 190, and it immediately took the matter up with the publishers. After several conferences the result was that all the newspapers in the city, the Bee, News and World-Herald, agreed to a contract which provides for the increase of 50 cents a day, and which will within a very short time bring the newspaper scale in Omaha up to $4 for day work and $4.50 for night work, with price and one-half for all overtime.

SPRINGFIELD, MO.

Last September, upon instructions from President Lynch, I visited Springfield, Mo., to investigate some trouble which had occurred between the union and the management of the Daily Leader.

Upon investigation I found the origin of the trouble as follows: The contract between the Springfield Union and the Daily Leader provided that the office had the privilege of employing a machinist to care for the plant, or might designate each operator to care for his machine as a machinist-operator. A scale was provided for both. The Leader management concluded it would dispense with the services of the machinist and let each operator care for his machine, paying him the scale as agreed in the contract. Mr. Keller, who was at that time foreman of the composing room, so notified the men. The office had a plant of three machines, and the operators, upon receiving this notice from the foreman, refused to accept the change of conditions and quit. The foreman was then instructed by the manager, Mr. Jewell, to secure machinist-operators to fill the situations. Communications were sent to Kansas City, St. Louis and one or two other cities asking for men. Two men were secured, one from Kansas City and one from St. Louis, and they came on to Springfield and went to work on the Leader. Only having two operators made the of fice short-handed. One of the men secured proved incompetent to do the work required, which made it even worse for the office. In the meantime the Leader management was trying to get men to come to Springfield and take the situations, and was in communication with men in Kansas City and St. Louis. Then it was that the men who had forfeited their situations on the Leader came to the office and agreed to return to work as machinist-operators. This offer was not accepted by the management, it claiming the men had forfeited their situations and were no longer employes of the office.

A special meeting of the union was then called, and at this meeting a motion was made and carried instructing the secretary of the union to notify sister unions to keep men away from Springfield, as there was trouble on. Telegrams were sent to the secretary at Kansas City and St. Louis, the one received at Kansas City reading as follows: A. A. Duke, Secretary Kansas City Typographical Union:

Keep men away from Springfield. Trouble. GEORGE A. BOWMAN, Secretary No. 158. This telegram had the effect of preventing the Leader management from securing machinist-oper

ators, and as the two men already there were not proving satisfactory, the office within a few days sent for the old force and put it to work under the old conditions. The machinist was again placed in charge of the plant, and the other men went back on the machines as operators.

Mr. Jewell, proprietor of the Leader, contended that this was an injustice to him, and put his of fice in the position of being made to appear to unions where the above telegram had been sent as unfair, and consequently might injure his business. He also contended that he had a perfect right, under the terms of the contract, to use either a machinist or have the machines cared for by machinist-operators, and that the union should have assisted him in securing competent men to fill these situations, especially after the old force had been tendered the situations and refused them.

I informed Mr. Jewell, in the presence of the committee, that he was right in his contention, and that the union would immediately send a let ter to Kansas City and St. Louis, where the telegrams went, informing the secretaries of those unions that there never had been any strike in Springfield, and that they erred in sending the telegrams reading as they did.

Mr. Jewell stated that he would keep a machinist in charge of the plant until the expiration of the present agreement, and when the new agreement was entered into he wanted it drawn up in such shape that it would prevent any future diffi culties. He was assured by the officers of the local that this would be done, and he was also assured that the provisions of the existing agree ment, which gave his office the right to use either a machinist or machinist-operators in caring for the machines, would be respected by the local union as long as that agreement existed.

It developed during the discussion of the matter by the committee of the local, Mr. Jewell and myself, that when the agreement now existing was entered into the understanding was that when machinist-operators were employed and received the additional $4 per week above the scale for caring for the machines, they were to care for them after the regular day of eight hours had been worked. This understanding did not appear in the wording of the contract. I told the committee of the union, and also Mr. Jewell, that as this was not provided for in the contract it could not be permitted if the Leader saw fit to employ machinist-operators, and that where our members worked eight hours in any capacity in the composing room they must be paid the overtime rate for all time worked in excess of eight hours. I believe this will prevent any further attempt to use machinist-operators on the Leader. I also stated that we realized that a machinist, caring for only three machines, would not be compelled to give all his attention to the machines while they were running an eight-hour shift, but if the machinist was a printer he could be employed in any other capacity in the composing room the foreman saw fit to use him. As the machinist in this case is a printer he can be used in this manner,

QUINCY, ILL.

About the 1st of October I was instructed to go to Quincy, Ill., to assist that local in negotiating a new contract and wage scale for both the newspapers and book and job shops. Upon my arrival there I met with the scale committee selected by the union, and the new agreements as prepared by the committee and adopted by the union were gone over carefully. The matter of adjusting the newspaper scale was taken up first. In company with the committee several conferences were had with the publishers of the three newspapers, the Whig, Journal and Herald. These conferences covered a period of several days. The old scale provided for $18 a week for day work, and $20 a week for night work, price and one-half for overtime. The new scale called for $19.20 a week for day work, and $21.60 a week for night work, with same overtime rate.

The publishers wanted a concession on the increase asked for, and when this was refused they wanted to submit the matter to arbitration. None of them being members of the American Newspaper Publishers' Association, this was refused by the committee. They were told that the proposed contract was for a period of five years, and that by agreeing to it they were sure to establish conditions for that length of time. The contract was finally agreed to by all the publishers in the city, and was signed for a period of five years. It was agreed during the conferences with the publishers than an arbitration agreement would be included in the new contract, which was done.

The new agreement increases the scale $1.20 a week for newspaper men, day work, and $1.60 a week for night men on newspapers. It also increases the foreman's scale on newspapers from $18 a week for day work to $22, and from $20 a week for night work to $25. The overtime rate remains at price and one-half for all time worked in excess of eight hours each day.

This makes the newspaper scale in Quincy considerably in excess of the minimum scale of cities of similar size in that section of the jurisdiction, and will have a good effect when other locals within a hundred miles or so of Quincy attempt to increase their scale.

With but one or two exceptions none of the men employed in the composing rooms of the newspapers were receiving more than the old scale, so the increase means an actual raise in wages for the admen, machine men, etc.

There is a German daily paper in Quincy called the Germania, which employs only one man and a boy. They do not compete with the English papers to any extent, and they have no job office in connection. The paper is not making any money, and is only kept alive through sentiment by the old German residents of the city. It was decided by the committee to let our member work there at the old scale of $18 a week. The publishers of the English papers had no objection to this.

The job scale, which provided for an increase of $1 a week, eight hours per day, and price and one-half for overtime, was next taken up. After numerous conferences with the different employers

of the city the new contract was agreed to and signed by all the shops that had been operating on a union basis. This makes the job scale $16 a week for handmen and the machine scale the same as paid on the daily newspapers. The job contract is also for a period of five years.

When the eight-hour day was established in the book and job shops in Quincy two of the largest shops in the city, and, in fact, two of the largest shops in that section of the jurisdiction, the McMein Printing Company and the Cadogan-Hatcher Company, refused to establish the shorter workday, and these shops became non-union.

The regular meeting of the union occurred while I was in Quincy, and at that meeting it was decided to place the matter of attempting to unionize these two shops in the hands of a committee and give them full power to act. This was done, and it was also decided that the local ask President Lynch to have me return to Quincy and assist the local in bringing about a settlement with these concerns. I was instructed to return to Quincy, and did so within a few weeks. In the meantime the committee in charge of the work quietly got in touch with the few competent nonunion printers employed in the shops, and were quite successful with this organization work.

In company with members of the committee, I had numerous conferences with the management of the McMein company and the Cadogan-Hatcher company. The result was that within three or four months we were successful in securing an agreement with the McMein company, and they are now operating on a union basis again. This company publishes the Reliable Poultry Journal, which is one of the largest publications of its kind in the country, and that publication is now on the fair list. The contract with the McMein company is the same as that entered into by the other union employers in Quincy.

Negotiations are still on with the CadoganHatcher company, and the prospects are very bright that No. 59 will soon have an agreement with this concern. When this is accomplished there will not be a non-union job shop in its jurisdiction.

INDEPENDENCE, KAN.

In December I visited Independence, Kan., to assist that local in the establishment of its first contract and wage scale. Upon my arrival there I met President Weaver and Secretary Rainey and went over the situation with them. I learned that a few days prior to my arrival the officers of the union had presented the contract to the different proprietors, and that it had been accepted by the Daily Star, of which Mr. Cox is the owner and publisher. The scale as presented was the same as the Coffeyville scale, which city is only a few miles from Independence. The scale called for a minimum wage for handmen, both on newspapers and in job shops, of $15 a week, eight hours a day. The machine scale called for $18 a week for day work and $19 for night work. Overtime was provided for at the rate of price and one-half.

The officers of the union informed me that all the offices in the city, both newspaper and book

and job shops, with the exception of the Daily Star, refused to accept the contract. Upon investi gating this matter I discovered that there existed in Independence quite a bitter personal feeling between certain of the employers, and that also some of the members of the new union had allowed themselves to be drawn into this fight. It also developed that this condition was the principal reason why the officers of the local could not secure agreements with all the employers.

It was decided by the officers that it was best for me to call on those proprietors who refused to accept the agreement alone. This I did, and had several talks with all of them. After several days spent in discussing the matter it was agreed by all the employers that the contract and scale as proposed by the union would be entered into, with the exception that the overtime rate would be fixed at price and one-third instead of price and onehalf. A special meeting of the union was held and the agreement ratified by the members. It was then arranged that the contracts be prepared and would be signed by all the employers in the city the following day. It was necessary to obligate several printers employed in one or two of the shops for the reason that the union was a new one and these shops had never before been conducted on a union basis. It was arranged that the officers of the union would do this.

The following day I left for Fort Smith, Ark., with the understanding that everything was satisfactorily arranged between the union and the employers in Independence. A day or two after my arrival in Fort Smith I received a telegram from Secretary Rainey, of Independence, informing me that some of the proprietors had again refused to accept the scale, claiming that the committee and myself had agreed that the scale for foremen on newspapers should be $18 instead of $20, as provided in the contract presented. It was necessary that I be in Kansas City immediately, and I left Fort Smith that evening. Upon my arrival in Kansas City I talked with Secretary Rainey over the 'phone, also with Mr. James, publisher of the Daily Reporter, in regard to the difficulty, but could not adjust the matter in this way.

Later developments proved that it was the personal feeling existing there, as mentioned above, that was preventing the matter being closed up. It was also not deemed necessary to again visit Independence for the reason that all the shops were paying the scale as presented by the union, although they had not as yet signed it. Several weeks ago, however, all the offices signed the contract, and the $20 a week for foreman was allowed to stand.

The contract and scale is indeed a good one for a first contract and a new union. There are no non-union printers in Independence and the future is very bright indeed for this hustling new local.

FORT SMITH, ARK.

I visited Fort Smith during the month of December for the purpose of conferring with the of ficers and committee of that local in regard to the unfair concern of Weldon, Williams & Lick, the non-union ticket printing concern located in that

city. Upon my arrival there I met with the committee in charge of the work, and also attended a special meeting of the union and the situation was thoroughly discussed.

The following day I called at the business office of the Weldon, Williams & Lick concern, but found that Mr. Lick, who is really the manager, was out of the city, and would not return for a week or two. However, I had quite a talk with Mr. Waggaman, his partner in the business. We discussed the situation in a general way, but Mr. Waggaman showed no inclination to go into the details as regards their concern. He said the shop was going along all right, and, while they might give some consideration to establishing the eighthour day in the future, did not believe they cared to discuss the matter of unionizing.

Ex-President Calvert, who is still active in the work, President Miller and others of the committee are of the opinion this concern will go after local commercial printing to take the place of the vast amount of ticket business they have lost. They have secured some of this work and are bidding for more. In order to secure any of this work they are cutting prices. They have only three journeymen printers employed. The local members are all hustlers and are on the job all the time, and they will keep up their fight against this concern until they convince them it is wise to again conduct their composing room on a union basis.

The question of allowing the Fort Smith Union to extend jurisdiction to some of the smaller towns in that section was discussed at the meeting of the union, they having asked the executive council to grant them this privilege.

The reasons advanced for wanting to extend jurisdiction to some of these towns was that they are thoroughly organized, being coal mining towns, also the farmers' union is quite strong in these localities. There is a demand for the typographical union label, and the miners and farmers feel that the one printing office in the town, employing two and three men, and sometimes only one, should have the work they have to give out. In every case the proprietor of the printing office is willing to pay the Fort Smith scale and have his printers join the union in order to get this work. The officers of the Fort Smith local contended that they were very careful in extending this jurisdic tion, and also that the other unions in the town watch the office and see that the label is not abused. They also contended that in every case where jurisdiction had been extended it had proven beneficial to the local union. I recommended to the executive council that the Fort Smith Union be allowed to extend jurisdiction to such towns in that vicinity as it deemed wise. This the council decided to do. At the time it had jurisdiction over Greenwood and Altus.

ST. JOSEPH, MO.

I was instructed to go to St. Joseph and assist the committee of that local in the negotiation of the new newspaper agreement, which had been under consideration for some time. The union had proposed an increase in the scale of $1.50 per

week for all members employed on newspapers. The old scale was $21 for day work and $24 for night work.

The scale committee had had numerous conferences with the publishers of the different papers, but had been unable to reach any agreement. The publishers contended that the scale in St. Joseph was all they could afford to pay, and gave as their principal reason that the newspapers in that city were limited to a comparative small field on account of the hard competition from Kansas City, Chicago and Omaha. They also contended that the advertising rates in St. Joseph were small as compared with other cities of the same class, and that there was no prospect of the publishers being able to increase this rate within a period of several years.

In company with the committee several conferences with the publishers were had after my arrival there, and finally they submitted a proposi tion to the committee, providing for a graduated increase based on a five-year contract. A special meeting of the union was held and the proposition of the publishers was discussed by the members. On motion, the union gave the scale committee and myself full power to negotiate a contract with the publishers. The following day we again met the publishers and a five-year contract was entered into providing for the following increase over the old scale of $21 for day work and $24 for night work: From February 8 until January 1, 1910, an increase of 60 cents a week to all members employed on newspapers. From January 1, 1910, to January 1, 1911, the increase to be 90 cents a week. From January 1, 1911, to February 8, 1914, the increase to be $1.50 a week, bringing the minimum scale up to $22.50 per week for day work and $25.50 per week for night work. This is a total increase the last three years of the contract of $1.50 per week over the old minimum scale. There were no other changes in the old contract other than the increase as stated. The overtime rate is fixed at price and one-half for all time worked in excess of eight hours a day.

A few weeks after the closing up of the contracts in St. Joseph the Daily Star, employing about six journeymen, ceased publication, and, I understand, sold their equipment to one of the local papers. This leaves the Gazette, morning, and the News-Press, evening, the only newspapers in the local field.

LINCOLN, NEB.

Upon instructions from President Lynch I went to Lincoln in the early part of February to assist the scale committee of that union in negotiating new agreements with both the newspaper publishers and book and job employers. After a conference with a committee of the employers it was decided that the committee of the union and myself would meet both the publishers of the newspapers and the proprietors of the book and job shops in joint conference to negotiate the agreements. Several meetings were held, covering a period of about ten days, before a final agreement was reached.

The contract covers a period of five years dated

from February 28, 1909. The newspaper scale provides for an increase the first two years of 25 cents a day, making it $3.25 for day work and $3.75 for night work. The last three years of the contract the scale is to be $3.50 for day work and $4 for night work. This increase benefits all journeymen employed in the composing rooms of the newspapers. The old scale was $3 for day work and $3.50 for night work. The final increase is 50 cents a day.

The job scale and contract is for five years also, and provides for a minimum wage of $17 per week, eight hours a day, during the five years. This is an increase of $1.60 a week, the old scale being $15.40.

The overtime rate in Lincoln, under the old contract, was exceedingly low on both newspapers and in book and job shops, being only a fraction above the regular rate per hour. This condition was a factor in preventing the eight-hour day be ing strictly enforced in Lincoln for a while. There was much contention during the negotiations over the overtime rate, the proprietors insisting that it remain as it was, which was about price and one-quarter per hour. The committee of the union insisted that this part of the scale be remedied, however, and the following was finally agreed to as regards overtime: For the first two years of the contract, both newspapers and book and job, the rate is to be price and one-third, and the last three years it is to be price and one-half per hour.

Other undesirable features that existed in the old contract were eliminated in the new one. An arbitration clause was provided for, and it was arranged that the job shops could provide for the Saturday half-holiday.

The new agreement in Lincoln is a good one, be ing a wonderful improvement over the contracts that have existed in that city in the past. The most friendly relations exist between all the employers and the union.

All the printing concerns in Lincoln which had been operating as union shops accepted the contract, but there still remained two or three nonunion shops. The matter of attempting to unionize these shops was left in the hands of the local committee, of which F. M. Coffey was chairman. The principal non-union shop was the Claflin Printing Company, located at University Place, and which did a large volume of printing, includ ing a large amount of the state work. The concern employs five journeymen, and has a linotype as part of its equipment. Mr. Coffey a few weeks later reported the unionizing of this office, and also secured contracts with the two or three smaller non-union concerns. This puts Lincoln in first-class shape as far as the typographical union. is concerned.

ATCHISON, KAN.

I was called to Atchison to take up the matter of the unionizing of the book and job shop owned by Paul Tonsing. The shop is not a large one, but it has two or three publications, the composition on which furnishes work for an operator most of the time. This composition had been going out of

Atchison, and was being done in Hiawatha, Kan., where there was no union. The Daily Champion was contemplating installing another machine, and could secure the contract from Mr. Tonsing for doing the composition on his publications. This, in addition to other composition they could secure, would create another situation for an operator. The Tonsing shop publishes the Atchison city directory, also directories in two or three other small cities.

Ever since Mr. Tonsing started in the printing business in Atchison he had refused to run a union office, although he had been asked to do so by the union. The local had been waging a fight against him and had succeeded in convincing him that it was to his future interests to conduct a union shop. He made application for membersшp in the union himself, being a practical printer, and also was willing to agree to conduct his shop on a union basis in the future. His application

was rejected by the union, his initiation fee returned, and consequently he was prevented from unionizing his shop.

After investigating the matter thoroughly it was decided that it was best to accept Mr. Tonsing as a member of the union and allow him to enter into an agreement with the local to conduct a union shop. This was done, and the shop is going along all right. There is now not a non-union shop in Atchison.

HOUSTON, TEXAS.

About the first of March I received a letter from the scale committee of Houston, Texas, informing me that the newspaper scale in that city had gone to arbitration, the committee and the publishers being unable to reach an agreement. They asked me if it was possible to come to Houston when the case came up locally and act as one of the arbitrators for the local. I replied to the communication of the committee, informing them that it would first be necessary for them to refer the matter to President Lynch before I could accept, but that if he could arrange it I was perfectly willing to come to Houston and assist the local in every way possible in adjusting their new contract by arbitration. The committee referred the matter to President Lynch and he gave his consent for me to go to Houston.

The latter part of March, while in Omaha, I received a telegram from A. R. McBeth, chairman of the Houston scale committee, asking me to come to Houston the first week in April, as the local arbitration board would convene at that time to consider the scale. I arrived in Houston the first of April, and immediately got in touch with the scale committee. With them I went over the situation pertaining to the proposed new scale and the preparation of the case to be presented to the arbitration board.

Some months previous to this time the local union decided to ask the publishers for an increase in the pay of the ad and floormen from 50 cents an hour, day work, and 522 cents an hour, night work, to 62 cents an hour for both day and night work. The union also decided to ask

that the overtime rate be increased from single price per hour for all time worked in excess of eight hours to 75 cents an hour. It seems that the publishers learned that the union intended asking for this change in the scale, and they immedi ately notified the officers of the union that they desired a decrease in the machine piece scale from 121⁄2 cents for nonpareil and 131⁄2 cents for minion to 10 cents per thousand ems for both nonpareil and minion. They also asked for a change in the system of measuring the type; also they demanded that the scale for time hands be not increased, and that the overtime rate for time hands be left at single price. Both sides being unable to reach any understanding in the matter, under the terms of the arbitration agreement between the publishers and the union, the case went first to local arbitration.

Upon my arrival in Houston Mr. Palmer, publisher of the Post, notified the committee of the union that the publishers objected to my acting on the local arbitration board, stating that he had communicated with Mr. Kellogg, commissioner of the publishers' association, who had informed him that he was right in objecting to my acting as a member of the board. He later withdrew his objection, however, and the arbitration board, as selected by the publishers and the union, met and organized. The board was made up as follows: For the publishers, Mr. Foster, publisher of the Chronicle, and Mr. McGregor, one of the stockholders of the Post; for the union, Father Grattan and myself. Mr. McGregor was chosen chairman of the board, and I was selected as secretary.

At the first session of the board it was held that the publishers present their case first, as they made the original demand upon the union for a change in the scale. In the presentation of their case the publishers contended that the piece scale in Houston was too high in comparison with other scales existing in the different cities of similar size. They showed that the operators on the Houston papers earned on an average of 92 2-10 cents an hour, or about $6 for six and one-half hours' composition. They also showed by their payroll that some of the operators earned more than a dollar an hour. They also contended that it did not cost any more to live in Houston than it did in other cities of the country of similar size, and further contended that their advertising rates, income derived from the conduct of the papers, etc., would not justify a continuance of the present piece scale. They further contended that there was too great a difference between the pay of the time hands and the operators, and cited that the union contended that the time hands were more skilled than the operators, and should receive just as much pay in every locality.

The union in replying to the publishers contended that the machine piece scale was not too high, and that the men were paid only for what they actually earned at the rate per thousand ems; that the operators employed on the papers in Houston were of exceptional ability as far as speed was concerned, being attracted to Houston for the rea son that they could receive pay for what they pro