Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-07-09

xmas. fOtted secretary George Il. cake.
plants have been placed around the walls in
great profusion, and over the door beautiful
floral sign Of double white lettering has been
put up bidding "Welcome" to all delegates.
SOME IMPORTANT TOPICS.
From business point of view, the present
convention embodies many more important
points than any convention previously held.
The introduction of the tank system will abb
sorb great deal of the discussions to be in
dulged in. The workers have come to the con-
clusion that the tank has come to stay, and one
of the first things they will do is to adopt such
measures as will enable them to control the
workings of the tank the same as they have
done the pots heretofore.
The next thing, and a matter which is likely
to cause spirit of animation in the speakers,
is the recent importation Of window-glass men
from Europe. But. while this may produce
some very heated arguments there Is no douot
that, in the end, Messrs. Campbell apd Cake
Will come out on top, and will receive by accla-
nation an Endorsement of their action. A good
many of the delegates were spoken to yester-
day afternoon on that very question and, while
they all admitted that efforts would be made
by some of the local members of the union to
have Mr.. Campbell hauled over the Goals: still
the opposition is not strong enough to do any
The question of the importation of glass
workers will at once lead to the subject of a
modification of the apprenticeship rules and.
from all appearances. the system will be a
great deal more liberal than 1t has ever been
before. .-
Mr.. P. Victor Marie, of Canastota. N. Y, a
prominent member of the Window Glass
Workers Association, member of the " ages
Committee and a gentleman who, in conjunc-
ton with President Campbell. worked very
hard in the interest Of President Harris n dur
ing the last campaign, gave DISPATCH re-
porter an interesting talk on the convention
and the subjects to be discussed. Said be:
Regarding the question of those imported
window glass men to Jeanette, you may as
Will in.
dorse the action of the officers, and think
they ought to be highly commended for the
bers & Mckee had their tanks ready they
wanted men to work them. Well, they came
to Mr.. Campbell and asked for the blowers.
The fact then became patent that there were
NOT SUFFICIENT MEN IDLE
to fill the positions which would become vacant
as soon as the tanks would be ready
for operation. Thenthe question with
our officers lay right here: sShali we
allow these manufacturers to 60 to
Europe and bring non-unionists into this coun-
try, or shall we fill their works from the
branches of our organization in Europe, and
thereby keep the control of their worksY That
was the whole question in a nutshell and when
they let these men come over who are men,
bers of our orr anzation, they just did the right
thing. and any man who has the success and
the welfare of our organization at heart will
say so. The only people who started a Eight
against Mr.. Campbell did so from political
reasons; that is all, and they used this matter
of the imported glassmen merely as a subter.
fuge."
What will be done in regard to the appren-
tlceship system?"
"Weil, that will be considerably modified.
The enormous increase in the number of fur
naces during the last year or So and the addi-
tional fact of the introduction of the tank fur
mace, makes it necessary to do something.
There are at present 20 per cent of all the
glass blowers In Europe waiting for call to
come over here and take a hand in the window
glass business, and of course it Is our object to
keep them out. We want to have Americans
working in American glasshouses, and hence
the number of apprentices has to be increased.
numbers is too low.. and I believe it will be
doubled by the convention"
Now, what in regard to wagesT'
THAT am not sure about although ought
to know more, since i am a member of the
Wage Committee. But of one thing You NAV be
certain: there viii not be a reduction in wages;
II there is any change at all, it will be slight
On Wednesday or Thursday all the delegates
to the convention will go to Jeanette to visit
from Messrs. Chambers & Mckee. A special
train is to be chartered for that purpose.
THE PROGRAMME TO-DAY.
To-day's convention will principally be taken
up by a reading Of the Presidents report This
is the first time regular report has ever been
presented to the delegates by tho chief official
of the organization, and considerable interest
is manifested in it. Mr.. Campbell stated last
night that he had prepared IS pages of fools
cap. which had been worked out on a type
writer The paper is fraught with statistics
and matter of great interest TO the glass
workers.
An official of the association was also asked
whether the scheme of building hall might
come before the convention, and he REPLIED:
"Yes, undoubtedly; when the Finance Com
mittee make their report, the matter will most
likely be discussed. The association has its
fund now distributed among a number of |
banks and, to Judge by the many bank rob- |
berries and failures which have lately come to |
light. we are anxious to place our money under |
better security, and real estate is good an in.
xz..s frnar as M rfhiranr al y Il