New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-08-20
ppIeND or WORKIyGMEN,

The World undertakes the lntelilge nee OF
workingmen. Knowing that the Admlnistra-
ton is responsible for tho closing OF John
Roach's shipyards and machine shops, 1t seeks
70 confuse the Judgment of the laboring classes
Inv holding him accountable for his own failure.
II insinuates that he has forced hundreds of
men into idleness and starvation in order to
u beat the Government out OF $2,OOO,O0O Tor
his own benefit" and accuses him or causing
amuch unnecessary suffering and misery TO the
| hundreds of workmen, who had built up MS
alarge fortune, when he had assets double the
| aamount of his liabilities"
Happily the facts of the case are so plain
that no class of newspaper readers can be de-
ceived by Misrepresentation and false pre-
fences. Mr.. Roach, instead of endeavoring to
beat the Government out of 100000 for his
own benefit received that amount for contract
work done under Government inspection. All
that he asked was to have the vessels accepted
when completed and TO have the balance still
outstanding of $500,000 or more paid. The
Government rejected the Dolphin alter 1t had
been virtually accepted by the Advisory Board
and the Attorney General in an official opinion
declared that the contract was not valid ana
that he WAS liable for every dollar he had re-
ceiyed. As the same reasoning applied to the
contracts for the cruisers the legal adviser OF
the Administration virtually threatened the
contractor with suits for $2,000,00O. That
was the precise cause of his failure. IL the Ad-
ministration had not attempted TO repudiate the
contracts of the Department and to make
political capital ut his expense, neither the
shipyards nor the machine shops would have
been closed.
Every one of the $500 men employed by
John Roach knows that he came to America
from Ireland without money or influence,
door laborer like themselves, but with stont
heart, noble ambition and determination 70
succeed. Throughout his career he has been
the consistent patron and friend not only OF
American industries, but also oil American
mechanics. His sympothies have always been
enlisted on the side of the laboring classes
from which he himself sprang. and to which
he has never been ashamed to say he belonged.
He has repeatedly declared that his strongest
reason Tor being protectionist was his conyic-
ton that under other economic system
could American labor be so well remunerated
or the prosperity of the working classes be so
directly promoted.
Indeed, if the truth were KNOWN we believe
that his sympathy for his workmen would
prove to have been one of the strong est
motives for his undertaking the construction OF
the Dolphin and the cruisers. His bids were
$315, 200 below those of his competitors and
they could not understand how he could ex-
pect TO make any money out of the contracts.
Well, he knew that the shipbuilding business
was dull owing to the free-ship agitation and
other causes and he was anxious to keep his
yards and works open so as TO avoid discharg-
ing his workmen. The contracts had only
narrow margin for profit, but they furnished his
force with employment. This was his chief
motive for making bids &c figures that deted
competition and astOnished tine naval experts
Will workngmen now be willing to believe
that he deliberately planned his failure without
reference to the suffering and misery of those
whom he was employing