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Once, a bishop brought newspapers peace

E-mail|Link|Comments (5) Posted by Michael Paulson June 7, 2009 12:44 AM

Monday is a big day here at the Globe: the paper’s largest union, the Newspaper Guild, is scheduled to vote on proposed wage and benefits cuts that the company says are neeeded to keep the struggling paper afloat. As the prospect of labor unrest at the paper looms, a friend who works for the Episcopal Church called my attention to the memoir of Bishop William Lawrence (right), the so-called banker-bishop, who claims to have brokered peace between Boston’s newspaper publishers and their employees a century ago.

Lawrence, who served as the Episcopal bishop of Massachusetts from 1893 to 1927, was cut from a different cloth than most of today’s prelates. He was the scion of an immensely wealthy, influential and philanthropic Boston family that made a fortune in textiles, founded the cities of Lawrence, Mass. and Lawrence, Kansas, and had a long association with Harvard University and the Episcopal Church. Bishop Lawrence travelled in elite circles – he was a familiar of Theodore Roosevelt and a visitor to Buckingham Palace. So when he was called in to arbitrate the pay dispute in the newspaper industry, he immersed himself in the unfamiliar workplace before working out a deal.

Here’s how Lawrence, who died in 1941, described his role in his 1926 memoir, called “Memories of a Happy Life’’:

“In November, 1902, a disagreement had arisen between the National Newspaper Association and the International Typographical Union on a new scale of wages between the publishers of Boston and the Mailers’ Union No. 1. The number of men immediately concerned was not large, but the issue was a national one, as this was the first instance in which the agreement which admitted conciliation, local arbitration, and national arbitration had been tested out, and the result would be a precedent for all others.
I was asked to be an arbitrator, together with a representative of each party; which, of course, meant that the two official representatives, one from Chicago, the other from New York, would each press his case in the strongest way, and that my decision would be final. Although it was a strange business for me, I took the risk of blundering, for it was an interesting problem. For a week, therefore, I haunted the newspaper offices at every hour of the day and night, studying their mailing system and the conditions of work. I learned also how the department stores handled their mail, compared the relative cost of living in different cities, listened to testimony, and finally considered the arguments of the two representatives. My decision met with approval on both sides. As a matter of fact, I judge that if in such a case both parties have confidence in the good sense, fairness, and intelligence of the arbiter, they are content, even if things do not go altogether as they wish.”

(Portrait of Bishop William Lawrence by the Frizell Studio of Dorchester; date unknown.)

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5 comments so far...

Ah, those were the good old days, when the Episcopal Church was the very definition of the center of centrism in American Christianity. Now there are only a few congregations, the Unitiarians, to the left of them, which is why they lose members, except the exceptional Fr. Cutie.

Posted by gaudete June 9, 09 04:06 PM

Yeah, Gaudete, the good old days, right? When those people who weren't white male WASPs knew their rightful place, perhaps? Especially those pesky women, gays, and...dare I mention the unmentionable...anyone in general whose opinions differ from the hierarchy party line?

Posted by OnTheLeft June 9, 09 06:06 PM

ontheleft - you should join the Episcopal Church - you could continue to vent your rage, opinions and self-centered dogma and they will love you for it. You want a democracy in a Church - that is the perfect place for you.

Posted by KJR June 10, 09 11:48 AM

KJR, I can't bring myself to adopt the sheep's attitude with which you are apparently so comfortable. First of all, genius, I love your perpetual "rage" meme - it goes well with your sense of your own entitlement and aggrievement. Your little martyr complex. Talk about self-centered - your posts scream "worship and obey me". Additionally, you never actually try to refute anything I post. You never present facts to counter my arguments. Instead, you post whining little diatribes such as the one referenced above. Apparently, you took Reagan literally when he misspoke and called facts "stupid things". He meant to say "stubborn things", as it turns out. And if you knew the first thing about your church (and you obviously don't), you'd know that it was, in fact, a democracy until power was usurped during the first millennium CE. You admit that you've chosen to to have the Vatican do your thinking for you. Not only is that utterly self-centered, it's intellectually lazy. I presume you're older than 7 - try acting the part. Or you can continue to do what you usually do - whine that I'm being "mean" or "hateful". And by the way, bright light - you can bet that I'll express my opinions. If you've got a problem with that, tough luck. Deal with it.

Posted by OnTheLeft June 10, 09 03:56 PM

Posted by KJR June 10, 09 11:48 AM

KJR, having a little problem with the Episcopal Church now? All this whining about how everyone who doesn't share your hierarchy's opinions is anti-Catholic, and I see all of this contempt for the Episcopal Church coming from you. Interesting. KJR, I don't join churches. I prefer to do my own thinking, as opposed to sheep like you who prefer to let Rome do their thinking for them. And, KJR, your little "rage" meme is old and quite typical of the paranoid mindset that is such a part of your posts, so many of which spew contempt for those who, ultimately, refuse to worship and obey you. Talk about self-centered. But it's beyond that with you, KJR - you're intellectually lazy. No wonder you're such a fan of Bush and the modern GOP - they're nothing more than a collection anti-intellectual know-nothings, and that suits you just fine.

Now, if you actually knew anything about the history of your church - and, of course, you don't - you'd know that the early church did in fact operate on some level in a democratic manner. Power was usurped by those who saw themselves as kings and princes.

One last thing, KJR. You can be damned sure that I'll continue to express my opinions here and anywhere else I choose. Got a problem with that? If so, tough luck. Learn to deal with it.

Posted by OnTheLeft June 11, 09 12:30 PM

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Michael Paulson covers religion for The Boston Globe. He shared in the Pulitzer Prize in 2003, won the Mike Berger, Templeton and Supple awards in 2008, and is a four-time winner of the Wilbur Award.
E-mail mpaulson@globe.com.

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Harvey Cox, the Hollis professor of divinity at Harvard University, marks his retirement by asserting a little-used right of his professorship -- to graze a cow in Harvard Yard. Photo, by Barry Chin of the Globe staff, taken on Sept. 10, 2009 in Cambridge, Mass.