discretion. At the best it is a difficult mission to propose perjury and treason to a man, yet this is exactly the nature of the proposition which the Pinkerton representative offers the coal miner, the mechanic or any other prospective secret operative, for he asks him in carefully chosen, honeyed words to swear allegiance to an industrial union of his trade, and to violate his oath by betraying the union's secrets and doing his best to destroy it.
It often happens that four out of five men interviewed reject the Agency's offer, and the fifth who is willing to accept is either illiterate or otherwise unde-
The Pinkerton Labor Spy. 13
sirable, so that it takes days, and sometimes weeks, before the Agency succeeds in getting a man.
Contrary to popular belief, the Agency does not pay high salaries to any class of operatives. The specisd and general operative gets a salary rarely if ever exceeding fifteen dollars a week when working in the city where the office is located; and when detailed on work outside the city, he is allowed, besides, his living and travelling expenses.
The secret operative necessarily receives a better salary, as he can earn more than fifteen dollars a week, by simply working at his trade. The Agency therefore pays him the sum of eighteen dollars a week, and in addition compels the client to pay all his living and incidental expenses. In this way the secret operative can, if he is economical, save his entire salary. But all of the money which the operative earns as a result of his work at the client's plant, is credited to the account of the client, the operative not being permitted to keep any of it for himself.
In short, the secret operative sells his honor and the interests of his brothers for eighteen dollars a week, net.