The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1865-05-26


Of some OF the master mechanics on the Yard
In the Portsmouth Chronicle Of the 18th inst
Is an article unimportant in itself. but quite sig'
nifcant just now, over the signature OF Jus.
tice," "a sad misnomer) whose ignorance OF
the matters OF which he writes is suggestive Oh
n certain other name, while his pcrversion oil
facts he mus, have known. entities him to al
mos. anu other name than that Of 'Justice'
Af,er giving q gsrblcd list Of the master work.
men ON the Yard. he says: at is asserted that
the Master Painter and Master Joiner are VIC
tins Of rotation, of the authority for which we
know nothing. (The wish doubtless being sub
stituted for '.auihoriiy.") "Of the above po-
sitions. Maine has FIVE and New Hampshire sew
en-, which appears to be unjust to Maine Mt first
sight, yet the fact that the Master Carpenter
"a Maine man) controls department equiva-
lent In number of men to more than double
that Of the whole seven OF New Hampshire,
serves to place the balance Of power on the side
Of Maine.''
In his list Of Bosses, no account is made OF
Mr.. Drown. Master Machinist, with 239 men (;
Mr.. Swain, Iron Plate Worker, with SO men I;
Mr.. Shannon. Master Teamster. with 40 n'en;-
all from New Hampshire,-and MIR. Gowan.
Boat Builder. tot Maine), with "a men max
ing. with his own showing, six from Maine and
ten from New Hampshire. But the gist of the
article, SO far as its Justice Is concerned, is in
the assertion that the Master Carpenter is ga
Maine man" The facts are these: At the
time OF adjusting the relative claims OF Maine
and New Hampshire, four years ago, the Mas
ter Carpenter was assigned to New Hampshire,
AMI the position was given to Mr.. Simpson, q
citizen Of Portsmouth, but who, year or more
ago, (as hundreds. of others have done) chang
ed his residence for his better accommodation
while holding his position on the Yard. But
to show that New Hampshire has no cause OF
complaint from the exercise Of power. he 1t To-
Gated where it may, We beg to call attention to
the fact that Of the eighty-onc Quartermen on
the Yard, thirty-six are from Maine and forty
five from New Hampshire. while Of the twenty
four clerks and writer's in the several offices and
departments. eight are from Maine and sixteen
from New Hampshire. Ia relation to the num-
Der of men employed by the Master Carpen.
ter, as compared with that Of all the New liamp-
shire Bosses, (supposing him TO be "a Maine
many, the former has 1917, while the latter
have 73i. So much in relation to the article of
Justice"
Now to more general matters. The people of
Portsmouth. with many honorable exceptions,
are exceedingly fistidious and fault-fnding in
relation to whatever management Of the affairs
Of the Yard does not accrue to her immediate
interest and come under her own direct control.
and that too, ostensibly, with regard to the
claims OF -ysp Hampshire, but in which claims
New Hampshire, as whole, has neither inter
est or sympathy. Indeed, 50 accustomed have
they become to the management Of the same,
that, to share It's honors and emoluments now,
with those of other localities. is, to them, like
taking ''the bread from their chillren's mouths
and giving it to dogs
How large proportion OF the employees OF
the Yarl are from Maine and New Hampshire
respectively, We are unable, from the want Of
statistics at hand, to say. But from her great
er population. together with her scores of -four
ishing ship yards in which her coast abounds,
and the superior facilities thereby furnished for
a knowledge Of maritime architecture and mech.
anism, we should not be surprised to find that
Maine had furnished majority of them. Nor
can we see shat such fact could be considered
either detrimental to the Government or inyidi-
Gus to New Hampshire.
But there is another point in which we wish
to view this matter Of arrangement and distri-
button Of Offices. other than that OF the number
OF men employed. or the amount Of the emolu-
ments Of the various Offices filled. In the dis
tribution of the various Offices at the bestowal
of the Navy Department four years ago, the Of
fee of Navy Agent was assigned to New Hamp-
shire, which we are told has been the case from
time immemorial. A portion Of the material
procured during the last four years for the use
of the Yard. in open market, (by which we
mean all not procured by specification and con-
tract), has been furnished by Messrs. Trickey
& Jewett, one Of whom is n Maine the other q
New Hampshire man. But of all other articles
so furnished for long series of years. amount.
Ing probably to hundreds of thousands, per-
haps millions Of dollars, scarcely dollar, rs
we are assured. has been procured in Maine.
while nearly IL not quite the whole amount has
been furnished by the citizens Of Portsmouth.
And in this we intend no reflection upon our
very excellent and etii,ieut Navy Agent. But
what would such an amount Of trade have been
worth to the city Of Portland, And is this
nothing in the consideration Of the claims OF
our sister State New Hampshire, Is she will
ing to-day to exchange with US the several po-
sitons we respectively hold at the disposal Of
the Department, Or is she willing to erase
all existing arrangements and commence the
score anew II 50, she has but to signify her
willingness, and the work is done. Otherwise
we would beg leave to question the wisdom or
propriety Of lsshing herself into too great a
fury merely for the qualification Of o few self.
ish, blatant aud vindictive men.
Kittery Navy Yard, May 10.
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~ Last week we exhibited caricature
oil JET. Davis in the uniform in which he
was dressed when surprised, as ft heading