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DEFIANT STILL

Samuel Gompers Comments on Justice
Wright's Decision

Samuel Gompers, sentenced by Justice Wright, of the federal

court in the District of Columbia, in contempt proceedings arising out of the Buck Stove & Range Co. case, prints in the Federalist, the organ of the American Federation of Labor, what is in effect a defi of the court. Gompers says in part:

"Judge Wright's opinion is a legal document fit to be carefully laid aside with those already moldering in the archives of law libraries, and which may in the distant future, as is now the case with similar ancient opinions and decisions, be revived and held up as conspicuous instances of ancient sophistry affecting the divine right of kings who are chancellors in their relation to the slave or serf."

"The opinion," continues Gompers, "is a document that reflects with utmost clearness the kingly viewpoint, the mental bias and the mental processes that stand out so conspicuously different from the conceptions of the rights of citizenship among our people."

"It sounds," said Gompers, "like an echo from the kingly chancellors' opinions of the Stuart judges of the seventeenth century. Its pseudo-individualistic political theory reverberates like a voice from the tomb of the 'vested interests' philosophers."

NO SOCIALISM

Labor Must Part With It, Says Prominent Railroader

In an address in Chicago, in July, Vice President and General Manager Wm. Park, of the Illinois Central Railroad, told the International Foremen's Association that labor must purge itself of Socialism. In part Mr. Park said:

"The paramount problem confronting the mechanical foreman of our American railroads today is the effect of Socialism on the working forces. In recent years we have lost much of

the esprit de corps, which formerly characterized our shop labor. There is not to be found anywhere, as obtained a few years back, that firm control of the shop employes so essential to the proper conduct of large industrial undertakings.

"While there has been, perhaps, improvement in contract shops of general efficiency, it can be attributed more to new machinery and methods than to increased efficiency of labor.

"Our railroads, because of their magnitude, are particularly vulnerable. There has been too much managerial caution in this country for the good of the railroads. We have temporized too long with socialism, syndicalism, and other pernicious 'isms'.

"When organized labor attempts to dictate who shall be employed, regardless of capability, and who shall be foreman, regardless of all qualifications other than seniority or unionism, it is digging a pitfall into which it or its employes must eventually disappear.

"No business can prosper saturated with disloyalty and steeped in incompetency bred by labor restricting fanatics and Socialistic agitators.

"The railroads can, perhaps, stand more of this than an ordinary business, but there comes a breaking point, and it is with a sigh of relief that many a foreman has stretched forth his arms and said, 'Thank God, I am boss again,' as the strike line filed out of the gate.

"He has seen on every hand waste of time and material, an unnecessary waste, an ungodly and an unjustifiable waste of his employer's property, powerless through the tyranny of the organization to prevent it, and when the thing broke he felt the shackles fall from his arms.

"Loyalty, industry and studiousness are seemingly treated with contempt by the modern shop organization. The young apprentice is instilled with disloyalty and insubordination, constantly told to do as little as possible, to deceive his foreman, and is taught that his employers are grasping capitalists, seeking his undoing.

"It is the crime of our industrial life that such conditions obtain and

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The legislative committee of the Illinois Manufacturers' Association has sent a bulletin to the membership of the association urging that manufacturers become acquainted with prospective members of the Illinois legislature. The bulletin is accompanied by a full list of the Republicans and Democrats who aspire to sit in the Illinois general assembly. The bulletin says in part:

Every manufacturer, in fact, every man that has a dollar's worth of property in Illinois, is interested in the personnel of the Illinois General Assembly.

"The subjoined list of candidates is sent out for the benefit of the members of the association and it is earnestly hoped by the committee having this matter in hand that the members of the various concerns constituting the membership of the Illinois Manufacturers' Association will go out of

their way to become acquainted with those who aspire to seats in the general assembly, regardless of party affiliations. A little interest at this time is much more valuable than a great deal of interest after election. A stitch in time saves nine. Committees are being formed in each legislative district.

"It will also be appreciated by the committee if members of the association will furnish the secretary's office any information they may possess which they think will be of value to the committee as to candidates."

Commenting on this step, the Manufacturers' News, of Chicago, says:

"The Illinois Workmen's Compensation Act is certain to come up for repeal or revision. It has failed to win the approval of many of the workingmen themselves and there are many reasons why it is unsatisfactory to employers of labor. At a recent meeting of the Lawyers' Association of Illinois, the act was severely criticized and a resolution providing for its revision or repeal adopted unanimously.

"The so-called corrupt practice act will undoubtedly be the subject of a new bill. This provides for the publicity of campaign contributions and opposes large expenditures of money in political campaigns. The committee. of seven which recommends this act also will endeavor to have passed a law providing for a "short ballot" and may be expected to reintroduce a bill providing for the initiative and referendum."

Chicago Houses Object

Freight house employes of Chicago will have a half holiday every Saturday for the remainder of the summer, as a result of a series of conferences between presidents of railroads and representatives of the 40,000 men affected.

Some large Chicago shippers object strongly to this plan on the ground that it will interfere with their service to their customers and the public. They believe that the freight handlers should work at least until 3 o'clock Saturday afternoons.

Big General Demand for Workmen

All the Large Centers are Short Handed and
Need Many Men, Financial Writer Says

That there was never a greater demand than at present for labor is asserted in a signed article by F. F. Duncan, financial editor of the Cleveland Leader, printed in that paper on July 29, 1912. In part Mr. Duncan

says:

The call for labor has gone out over the land. Never has the bid for harvest hands been more urgent and never the response so pitifully inadequate. The cities have no surplus labor to contribute to the farms. industrial centers are short-handed and have been since last spring.

The

It's just a plain lusty plea for men. with two hands and willing to use them. Cleveland could use 5,000 men for outdoor work today. Akron wants 1,000. Gary, the new inland steel town, wants 3,500. Pittsburgh could use several thousand. Detroit is reaching far and wide for men. The steel mills of the Pittsburgh and valley districts could find work for from 10,000 to 15,000. An official of the steel trust estimates that the steel trade as a whole is short 50,000 men. The textile centers of the New England states are short-handed for the first time in their history.

To point the matter further census figures show that in the ten-year period from 1900 to 1910, urban population increased nearly 12,000,000, while rural population gained slightly over 4,000,000. Urban population is rapidly overhauling rural population. The dividing line in the computation is the town of 2,500.

But to analyze this absorption of working men and women closer it is found certain cities like Cleveland, Akron and Detroit are absorbing population in faster ratio than is indicated, in the growth of steel consumption. These three centers spell largely auto

mobiles, tires and automobile parts.

The street railway car shops and the steam road car builders attest to the fact that the automobile industry. has been the biggest factor in absorbing trained men from the car building shops. The tire industry in Akron draws men from everywhere. It takes motormen and conductors from the interurban lines, draws labor from almost every line in Cleveland and from the east. It has been the big spectacular growth because the tire wears out faster than any other part of the motor car of this gasoline age. Hence

Akron always wants another thousand men, but it confesses that they had better stay away a few weeks until 200 more houses can be built to care for them. And when the 200 houses are completed, it is the same story of waiting for 200 more.

A

Another big factor in congesting the labor market has been the rush of big business to build up a new central industrial empire around the south shore of Lake Michigan. A score of big corporations followed the lead of the steel trust into the Gary district. half dozen of these are now building big plants, capable of employing each some 5,000 hands. This new construction was held up by the panic of 1907 and later by the troubles of the railroads since the latter came under government regulation as to rates. The result was that with this year's steadily growing revival in industrialism decision was reached to rush through a number of plants. The new construction itself has absorbed so much labor that the steel trust plants at Gary are calling for 3,500 hands that cannot be found. This right at the door of the second city and one of the greatest labor markets in the world.

Local Employers' Associations

The following list is established in THE AMERICAN EMPLOYER So that associations of employers can get in touch with one another. Secretaries of such associations are invited to send the names and addresses of their organizations and the names of their presidents and secretaries to the editor of THE AMERICAN EMPLOYER at P. O. Box 54, Cleveland, Ohio, for publication in this list. There is no charge for such publication.

ILLINOIS.

Building Construction Employers' Association of Chicago.-Chas. W. Gindele, president; E. M. Craig, secretary, 808 Chamber of Commerce building, Chicago, Ill.

Chicago Employing Electrotypers' Association.-Chas. S. Partridge, president; Aug. D. Robrahn, secretary, 848 Transportation building, 608 South Dearborn street, Chicago, Ill.

The Employers' Association of Chicago.-F. K. Copeland, president Sullivan Machinery Co., president; W. M. Webster, secretary, 1807 City Hall Square building, 139 North Clark avenue, Chicago, Ill.

Wholesale Clothing Association of Chicago.-Jacob J. Abt, president; M. J. Isaacs, secretary, Room 1020, 137 South Lasalle street, Chicago, Ill. Tri-City Manufacturers' Association (embracing Rock Island, Ill.; Moline, Ill. and Davenport, Ia.)-H. S. Jansen, secretary, Moline, Ill.

INDIANA.

Manufacturers' Association of Evansville, Ind.-Oscar A. Klamar, president; D. F. Norton, secretary, Evansville, Ind.

Employers' Association of Indianapolis.-Walter C. Marmon, president; C. C. Foster, secretary; A. J. Allen, manager, 218 New York Life building, Indianapolis, Ind.

Employers' Association of Muncie, Ind.-Victor C. Palmer, secretary, 423 Johnson block, Muncie, Ind.

MASSACHUSETTS.

Employers' Association of Boston.-Albion P. Pease, secretary; Room 702, 88 Broad street, Boston, Mass.

MICHIGAN.

Employers' Association of Detroit.-John J. Whirl, secretary, Stevens building, Detroit, Mich.

MISSOURI.

The Building Industries Association.-F. G. Boyd, secretary, 313 North Ninth street, St. Louis, Mo.

The Citizens Industrial Association of St. Louis.-George J. Tausey, chairman executive board; Ferd. C. Schwedtman, president; Oliver B. Root, secretary, 706 Locust street, St. Louis, Mo.

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The Employers' Association of Buffalo.-John E. Gorss, secretary, 691 Ellicott Square, Buffalo, N. Y.

OHIO.

Employers' Association of Akron.-H. C. Parsons, secretary, 400 Hamilton building, Akron, O.

Cincinnati Boot and Shoe Manufacturers' Association.-W. S. McKenzie, president; William Tateman, secretary, 610 Sycamore street, Cincinnati, O.

Employers' Association of Cincinnati.-A. H. Pugh, president; Chas. F. Waltz, secretary, 1501 First National Bank building, Cincinnati, O.

The Builders' Exchange of Cleveland, O.-J. C. Skeel, president; Edward A. Roberts, secretary, Second floor Chamber of Commerce building, Cleveland, O.

The Employers' Association of Cleveland, O.-Walter D. Sayle, president; E. J. Hobday, secretary, 607-608 Arcade, Cleveland, O.

Dayton Employers' Association.--J. Kirby, Jr., president; A. C. Marshall, secretary, Reibold building, Dayton, O.

Portsmouth Employers' Association.-John Peebles, president; F. M. Baggs, secretary, Portsmouth, O.

PENNSYLVANIA.

Manufacturers' Association of Lehigh County.-George W. Aubrey, secretary, B. & B. building, Allentown, Pa.

The Manufacturers' Association of York, Pa.-R. E. Gephart, secretary, 15 West Market street, York, Pa.

Metal Trades Association

The following is a list of the offices of the National Metal Trades Association, its branches and its district organizations.

National Metal Trades Association,

Cleveland, O., New England building.

Robert Wuest, commissioner.

President, Henry D. Sharpe, Brown & Sharpe Mfg. Co., Providence, R. I. First vice president, W. A. Layman, Wagner Electric Mfg. Co., St. Louis, Mo.

Second vice president, L. H. Kittredge, The Peerless Motor Car Co., Cleveland, O.

Treasurer, Howard P. Eells, Bucyrus Co., Cleveland, O.

Executive Committee:

Chairman, Henry D. Sharpe, Brown & Sharpe Mfg. Co., Providence, R. I.
W. A. Layman, Wagner Electric Mfg. Co., St. Louis, Mo.

L. H. Kittredge, The Peerless Motor Car Co., Cleveland, O.
Justus H. Schwacke, Wm. Sellers & Co., Inc., Philadelphia, Pa.

M. H. Barker, The American Tool & Machine Co., Boston, Mass.

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