Omaha daily bee., 1888-04-19
Resolutions.

The prominence given by the. local
press 10 the so-called resolutions pur-
porting to have been adopted by the
Omaha Central Labor Union impels me
TO make n statement over my own name
with regard to the construction Of the
BEE building. Before doing so l brand
those resolutions rs a tissue Of malicious
falsehoods unworthy Of any honorable
or decent member OF tho building craft.
Whoever the Central Labor Union may
be, the parties who have given publ
city TO these ISLANDERS are not reputable
mechanics, but hirelings or designing
political and personal enemies. Ineed
only cite four Of the eight sections of
these infamous resolutions TO convict
the authors thereof as unmitigated liars
and scoundrels:
Whereas, The Central Labor Union, com.
prising the federated trades Of Omaha, view
with shame and humiliation the actions OF a
man, who processes outwardly and through
the medium of n great journal his friendship
for workingmen, and,
Whereas, Through The medium of his Jour.
nal he has presumed TO teach us that organ
lied labor should be encouraged and fos-
tered, and,
NhplSdSi hO puly JOO hON utlhE tISCltu
in Omaha where carpenters are compelled TO
work more hours per day than other
contractors demand, being the one which
the aforesaid journalist is himself erecting,
and,
Whereas, He has and still refuses 10 accent
union labor on the brick work of said build
ing, and by so doing allows it to be erected
by "scab' labor.
This is q dead give-away on its face.
The BEE building is to be a strictly
fire-proof structure. Up to this day not
a foot of lumber has been used, and not
a single carpenter is at work on the
building, nor has there ever peel a car
penter on the building, and no contract
has yet been made for the carpenter
work, which will be necessary in finish
ing. This ought to dispose, effectively,
of the malicious charge that the car
penters employed on the BEE building
are compelled to work longer hours for
less pay thar any others.
1t is a downright falsehood that I
have refused, or 'still refuse to accept
union labor on the brick-work of said
building" l have never employed o
single mechanic, %bricklayer, stone
SubbSl, -liOluCl vi " -CitElcE Nv
work on the building, for the
very best of reasons, namely,
that the granite work is being done
under contract with Jackman s. Sher-
man of Chicago, who are to furnish the
granite ana place it in the walls for, a
fixed sum of money under II contract
made last September; that the brick
un,l Ia sod hnil1ipr 80 ba;,r 1nna
under contracts made in September and
December, 1887, with John F.. Coots,
and the iron work is being done by
Paxton g. Vierling, under a contract
made last October. l have no control
whatever over mon employed by these
contractors, nor can 1 interfere with
them without laying the BEE Publish
ing Company liable to damage suits for
breach of contract. While l should pre-
fer to see union men employed by Mr..
Coots, and have repeatedly told him so,
and urged arbitration with the union
bricklayers, l can only hold him re-
sponsible as contractor for the work he
does. I certainly derive no benefit from
inferior work, if any such is done.
"hSh IhI. Soo 70 commenced W SlcSI
the walls with n%on-union bricklayers,
a committee of the ~bricklayers' union
called on me and warned me against in
ferior work. l told them I was not a
competent judge of brickwork, but
would at once send for Mr.. Beman, the
architect. I telegraphed Beman tho
same day. He was sick at the time, but
reached Omaha within four days there
after. The committee of bricklayers
asked that 1 should employ a superin-
tendent, but expressed preference for a
nonresident who would show no partial
ity to the contractor. On my request Mr..
Beman engaged as superintendent Mr..
j, S. Baker, of Milwaukee, who had
been the superintendent Of the North
western Mutual Life insurance COM
pany's building in that city, planned by
Mr.. Beman. Mr.. Baker has been here
since last week Friday and receives 5000
per month for supervising the work.
Does this show t~rcachery and want of
faith on my part? Cal reasonable and
fairminded |workingmen ask any more?
A few days after the bricklayers' COM
mlttee had called / was invited TO go be-
fore the executive committee of the
Knights of Labor to explain the situa-
ton. did so, to their apparent salts
faction, by not only answering all their
inquiries, but also by placing in their
hands the contracts with Mr.. Coots
to show hat / WAS powerless
to interfere with the employment of
%non-union men on the BEE building.
In view of these facts 1 submit to an
unprejudiced public whether there is
any ground whatever for the ''roasting"
which my Omaha .would-be rivals have
taken delight in administering to me
over the shoulders Of organized labor.
II there ever was anything more con
temptible and villainous, both on the
part of the self-constituted mouthpiecel
of organized labor and rival editors and
publishers, | do not remember TO have
seen il. Il. ROsEwATER.
"