1903-08 August Electrical Worker.pdf - International Brotherhood of ...

2 THE ELECTRICAL WORKER
Comment is hardly necessary, and one inquiry
alone suggests itself-would the above
excerpt be classed as .. tom my-rot? "
In the April number he suffers a revulsion
of feeling-conscit:nce stricken, as it
were-I\tld "lands" on the brothers for
not being more serious, and adjures them
to consider the business side of life and discuss
practical electrical subjects. As a
starter he asks: "What is the best telephone
made to-day? What is the best battery
made? What is the best telephone
book· published for practical men, Kempster
Miller excepted?" And there he
leaves them. He should give an opinion if
he wants the discussion started, or is it information
he js after? Still posing as the
"·schoolmaster "-not the" teacher."
In the .May number he "roasts" thos(>
w·ho do not insist on having the union label
on all they wear, incidentally throwing in a
few lines by way of embellishment that, .
without doing violence to either side, could
be.declared as closely related to .. tommyrot,"
and not one word of personal experience
or personal encounter in quest of the
label. He simply belabors his brothers on
suspicion;-or from habit, perhaps.
In the June number he takes up the cudgel
against the member who neglects to attend
the meetings of the local, and, as bt tween
the two, declares his preference for the
scab .. !Asthis preterence, or choice, is made
genera:l(without degree or limit) it looks
badly .. There are probably many men connected
with the locals who fail to attend its
stated meetings whose· allegiance to the
principles of organized labor cannot be
doubted-whose fealty· is unquestioned
and above suspicion. There may be a good
reason why these brothers are not regularly
found in the hall, and in searching for the
trUth in the matter the pessimistic press
. secretary and champion of reform in letters
might, unconsciously, be found very close
to that reason.
I am not writing this with the intention
of offering a list of suggesti~ns, in lieu of
your other correspondent, whose advice
I may apparently reject as ill timed,
for I think that in a general way you are
_publishing a magazine that needs but little
. improvement to meet all the requirements
for which it is published. Possibly it might
be well to say that so much repetitton by
press secretaries could well be eliminated,
and abuse of those who are not members of
the Brotherhood could with profit he cut out.
There is sometimes a surfeit of "Hello,
Bill," and frequently too much space and
time consumed in telling a story that would
look and read better if judidously pruned.
But so far as most of the letters are concerned,
Mr. Editor, they strike me as being
what is wanted, in that they show. to the
brothers the condition of trade at the different
points. P!actical subjects pertaining to
the trade could and ought to be discussed at
meetings of the local, but should such discussions
take place in the columns of the
Worker? That is a question I will not attempt
to discuss, as the propriety of such a
departure forbids the interposition of my
reasons in extenso. It seems to me that
there are many technical points of information
to be gained by an interchange of views
. on the electrical business that, if given to
the public through the columns of the
Worker, might result in a loss to the
Brotherhood. Of course we may differ on
this.
I have written this for the purpose of
claiming that the Electrical Worker is one
of the best and most representative trade
journals published, . and want to say that it
fills its field as completely as any publication
that I can call to mind; and also to deny the
existence therein of that amount of .. tommy-rot
"-claimed by one of your correspondents-to
the exclusion of "instructive
matter."
In closing, I want to add 1he concluding
paragraph of ,mother press secretary in the
July number--a letter of good, sound sense,
with an underlying vein of fine intelligence
and discrimination. He says: .. In conclusion,
will say that I hear words of praise on
every hand for the Electrical Worker and
its wholesome articles; like good sermons,
they give us a forward and onward impetus
in the good w.ork. Personally, I am exceedingly
pleased with its pages, only offering,
as an improvement, that you· cut out the
• ad' on the back cover. At first I thought
the local letters would be dry reading, hut
find upon perusal that they are exactly the
opposite; they are entertaining and instructive.
"
W. S. HAMBI.1tTON.
Washington, D. C. July 30, 1903.