The New Orleans daily Democrat., 1878-08-10

Mr. Rice wished to know Wnere NJ. . iou,,, ,,d
xYnnluvers had their stone cutting done, anu
/ mr.. Rock replied, "In this city" ,., A,o
MIR. Hewitt They would have TO bring the
stone here? A.-Yes, they could bring 1t from
elsewhere, but it should be cut here
4 cntnmlttee representing all parts of the
Union? Al know that all the cities are In
favor Of having their work done by thelr own
rnen. It's Of no benefit to Cincinnati to nave
ffxs work done far away on some barren island
where they can't see how it's going on.
Mr Rock then went into the abuse OF the
postoffice work while done on IN, nlz island, and
ffie better II II II e5Htt denounced the Is per
eprt commission paid to contractors on oil
disbursements asa gross abuse
LITTLE LOGIC.
Mr. Hewitt (quizzically) If the work for the
albany Capitol can be done more chcapy
here titan in Albany should 1t still be done In
atosW tUo''nWho u DAYS 80 for for it? Al suppose the
yoDWell. II all the citizens of the State pay
forit, why should tbey not all have an equal
l chance to do it?
B Mr. Rock hesltated and finally got out Of
tle dilemma by saying, "Well 1t could not
d be done as cheaply here and semitic Albany a6
j III could be done In Albany
# Mr. Hewitt pressed Mr. Rock to state how
or he would go in desiring legsla;tl9,ni on the
subject and whether even zen private indlyldHas nc tha
work done in the cities in which their build
srtps were erected Mr.. Rock looked down
and did not reply to the question, at which
Mr. Hewitt smiled. In reply to O. question by
Mr. Thompson Mr.. Rock spoke of mechanics
starving"
Mr. Hewitt inquired rs to the number OF
stonecutters in New York and the proportion
out Of employment all of which, and Kindred
Information bearing on the subject OF wages.
0 The witness was requested to send to him In
writing for the use Of the committee
1T s q nice condition of things" Mr.. Rock
-I4S4 4&NIk ,Lttv,E ,fy hnvrn frnf
~ go to England In order to get work, and
leave their tools as security for their pas
sage" In answer to several questions he
said stonecutters got now $a per day, brick
layers 50 o day and carpenters "got no wages
all" He explained that carpenters were
RIad 10 get anything they could, and worked
by the ''job" or contract" In 1869, when he
game 70 New York. stonecutters got So Is per
day. then their pay rose to SIS In war time,
and finally came down TO its present rate $3
aday. In 1868 they got $9 25 for niue hours
work.
Q.--With prices for flour and oil provisions,
Glcthing, etc, reduced rs they are, are you
Better off ut S3 day now than you were at
81 20 m IB63 A.--W c 5FTU VUl5t uHf. iii
Mr.. Rock debated the matter with Mr.:
Hewitt, and urged that provisions were still
higher than In 1862.
THE MILK IN THE COCOANUT.
@ Q. Well that brings us to tho question how
YOU buy them. Do your people generally buy
# at the nearest shops? A.-Yes, sir
Q.-There is no cooperative arrangement
tiuantities2 A.--No, sir.
Q.-As q matter of fact are they generally
in debt to the grocer?
Mr Rock smiled assent, and Mr.. Egan said ::
earn they can tsupport their families in q half
decent way" Mr.. Rock thought that there
were aO00 stonecutters In the city, and they
were probably not employed half the year.
Q.--You would prefer lower wages If you
Ind steadisr WOrkp A-We'd prefpr almost
q any kind OF regular wages to this.
Wouldn't people build more il the cost
OF building were less? And isn't the want Of
employment due to high wages? A.-No, sir; ;
ITS due to labor-saving machinery, to ma
Chinery for saving stone, and all TINT sort of
thing.
Q.-twith mock seriousness)- would
you have the government deal with that?
If A. Naughingly) / wouldn't have the gov
crnrnent interfere at all. He thought that
employers would "break themselves'' with
machinery II they only didn't starve their
Workngmen meanwhile.
Mr. Hewitt wanted to know II some of the
stone masons didn't work for less than three
dollars per day. Mr.. Rock first pretended
not to know, and ii took some little coaxing
To induce him to say that some worked AS
V low as two dollars and one dollar and fifty
cents per day.
Q.-What course does the society take with
these men does it discipline them?
=, Mr. Rock did not reply. to this, so Mr.
Egan took up the question, and replied
M lines are SO hard that we can't help our
selves"
o. (Satiricallyl--Tu other words there is
0 law more powerful that the law of trades
unions A. (Vigorouslyl-1es sir; the law
of starvation is,
q. (SmiIing)-Do you think that trades
unions can control the question Of wages :? A.
tBy Mr.. Rock)-Yes, sir; they have done it,
and the bosses never made 50 much money as
when they did.
Mr. Hewitt alluded to the excessive cost of
d The seventeen houses which he built some
years ago during the era Of imitation In the
upper part of Third Avenue, and Mr.. Rock
volunteered the opinion that the builder made
the money and not the men,
@. Have not great number OF builders
faiiedp A. Yes, sir; but that was because
they carried too heavy loads of real estate.
Mr. Hewitt (iocularly)-Then nobody really
prohted by that great era Of prosperity and
xpansion-neither the builders, nor the me-
ehanics, nor the real estate men? A. with a
laugh)-I don't see that anybody has proiited
by It, Uaughterl
Here we observe that Mr.. Hewitt, in the
& course OF fifteen or twenty minutes "exam-
ination,' varied his hisstatesmanike mood from
first the significant, TO second, the quizzical
third, the mock serious; fourth, the satircal !;
fifth, he smiled, and sixth and last, he became
iocular; at which entertaining stage of the
proceedings the curtain rang down, leaving
M ana HTt f. Gnay k9c hs o neb N h}g MS
& his tifth-story tenement rooms on the other
side of the island.
But, as If to add characteristic finale to
this first act of Mr. Hewtts farce, Just as
the committee rose
CITIZEN JUsTUs sCHWAB
claimed the attention Of the assembly to pro
claim that he was a Communist and II they
wanted his individual views he was ready tt
give them, but he would as soon wait till the
next day, when he would come down with g
delegation OF the Social Labor party and then
# they might count sure on hearing from him
<'We want to see,' he exclaimed, "the United
States amend the CONSTRUCTION for the Ia
boring man" "The people of the United
States, you mean r suggested Mr.. Hewitt
sDon't matter but just amend the constitoo-
tion, amend the constitootion, amend the
constitootion,' and, repeating the injunction
till he reached the door. Citizen Schwab made
sturdy bow and departed.
a 1t Is necessary to produce these somewhat
copious extracts from the report of the tex
animation" to show up its farcical character