The Portland daily press., 1890-03-08
THE BUILDERS ExchANcE.
A Talk by Secretary Sayward Of the
National Association.
The Exchange and Its Value In the
Business World.

The party that gathered at the rooms Of
the Builders Exchange to hear the remarks
of Mr.. William FL. Sayward OF Boston.
secretary of the National Association Of
Builders, represented all of the leading
building and contracting firms in this city.
The meeting was called to order by Presi-
dent Smith who made short address In
which he stated that Mr.. Sayward was
present and would give some valuable in
formation that was needed to run an institu-
tion of this kind. He then introduced Mr..
Sayward who spoke as follows:
Gentlemen:-I am glad President Smith
introduced me In such brief manner for 1t
is not like an instance that remember, OF
gentleman who was about to- introduce
play of language ended, II now will in
troduce to you, Mr.. -, what did you say
your name WASP" which was not very pleas
ant to the gentleman. am here on bnsi-
ness undertaking. l am plain business
man and will speak upon pure business
principles and hope to give some inform
alton. 1t Is partly my duty to travel through
this country to give to the new organizations
little coaching and to the old ones little
encouragement If l can. Philadelphia organ
lied its first association about two years ago,
so you are not far behind the times In this
enterprise. Many have vague idea Of what
an exchange may be but many, even mem
bers, cannot fully appreciate the good that
comes from the association Of men Of busi-
ness and the combined works OF the differ
ent trades. An exchange may be place to
come together and talk of business affairs !;
it may be made place where person who
needs a workman of any trade may ind one
and place where employers can become
better acquainted with each other which Will
have a tendency to promote higher sr
made rendezvous for persons engaged In
trade. The merchant has his Office or store
where he can go and meet his customers
and where he Is generally found
In business hours, but the
plumber, carpenter, mason, or plasterer has,
in many cases, no particular place to be
found. But here he will be found at certain
times during the day, and the seeker Will
not have to spend most OF his time in hunt
ing over the city for him.. The idea of an
exchange was first started by the masons
and carpenters, but today, on the floor OF q
large exchange like that in Boston, you can
fnd man to do any class OF work In the
building trades. One Of the first things In
an exchange is quality, not quantity, for 1t Is
better to have small number of good work.
men than plenty Of poor help. We should
learn to figure together, and make fair
profit without cutting each others thr0ats.
The more we are associated and figure with
each other the sooner we will be able to esti-
mate contract without ranging from $500
to $1,000. The mechanic is bufiness man,
and we are stepping up higher and higher
and getting nearer the apex Of our profes-
sion. / recommend arbitration here as do
everywhere else, and we shall be the richer
in the end IL we adopt 1t. We must remember
that the wOrkmen have just as much right to
organize as the employers. and we have only
one thing to say, and that is. don't 60 too far.
The company then adjourned to the Fal-
mouth, where an appetizng dinner was pro-
dived. After the supper short speeches were
| made by Mr.. Sayward. Hon. c. F. Libby.
M. N. Rich. Esq, John Calvin Stevens,
James Cunningham, E. P. Winslow, and
Others