The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-04-19
The First Of a Series IN The Chamber
Of Commerce.
RICHsoNDA MANUFACTURING CENTRE.
Her Facilities end Advantages are Dis
erssed by Rfpresentetiv~ Business
Mcn-The Council Asked 10 with
draw The Electric Light
Hesoiution.

number q representative buslhes" hi'"
were present. and much interest was
manifested IN tho movement
Nh uRrAN's ApDErss.
Mir. Joscph BRYAN was tho first speaker.
After "a brief reference 20 me piosi 100
OF Richmond as "a manufacturers centre
DE s1id. 49,, ...,
point and that VIII be the character OF
ibe labor available for the higher order
of mechanical production ana the adai-
liability of our Tributary popu'a'oh 10
such work. IN, o,..
Ia. ,,n,o the experience Of the Rich-
mond Locomotive and Machine WORKS
IN ms operations for the past I'VE or six
.rbe great economist Mil says the
r..tiisifes OF production are two; Labor
ana appropriate natural objeC u.s. but be-
sides those primary ana unlNeisal re-
,nisifce of nroiuction-labor and natural
ee[te- tbere is another requisite with
ONT which no productive operations ana
b..ord fbe rude and scanty begin
nings of productive Industry are
possiblc. namely "a stock of the produce
OF labor. termed capital
Capital. by persons wholly unused 10
reflect ou the subject also say M"b
,.,,f,-.oeri 10 be- Synonymous Win Monty
No have learned from mechanics from
ofhcr cities who from time 10 Time nave
come TO Richmond hat they were m"'ii
,ioaseI with their SURROUNDINGS anu
when their Jobs were ont ana 'ney "en'
elsewhere, they have eXpIesseu tn,i,,-
selves as very willing TO come back WIN
their families. and even To- leave o'n,l
work. urcforring to live in tlcnmonn' NY
attention has been drawn 10 lhls laN'
v,benovar "a mechanic from another cry
RS EXPRESSED his opinion about hlch-
rond as a home.
TIE VALUE or LABOR.
So essential is labor as an element 20 y.
r.oductivcncss that many have elaine"
as the only one worth m sn'lohlns' @ l~
mat all value is from labor ana lauoi
alone. This. I'm sense, ~ rue, u"' c" ~
t9l though the accun glaied labor Oh 'no
t.sf Is. ag we have seen, rs necesSaIy
a. the prrscnt or future labor ior the
desired result OF manuf tcture.
no "a person who reads OF strikes the
labor question is ono of simple hoiI"i.
hose who have never he'h brought III
contact with laboTers, may wei Wonuer
why anybody should be so rash rs 10
embark In any enterprise where not merely
,anirsl but life ANA limb may be Al the
csnrica of Unreasonable and preJudiced
men. led hy rrprncipled agitators' whose
interest IS TO stir up STRIFE AM PROVOKE
disCOrl -
strikers. CIR persuaded that where JUS
ttco. that rs a position which Will he COM
monty recognized as right be weeh man
and man. is on either side. that side
will in the end prevail.
This outcome may be hindeied, ana
great loss may he incurred before Is
reached but IL viii be- reached, though
after much tribuiation. II Is very impor-
fan+. fhsuf,re, % deal with men who arc
ntn,uable 10 reason and right. VINO have
been trained to respect the lights or
others as they demand respect Tor their
own rights.
This reflection will az once show tho SUI
v.Yior nett of "a mechanic drawn from
a population homogeneous with their cm-
plovers VITA the same antocedcnts. born
ard brought mp under the same influences,
many of whom are ny association ana
blood connected with their employers
thus creating "a bond of sympathy the
ore FOR the other, which is indeed the
very and only bond of peace in the ever
recurring questions arising between labor
and capital
This condition exists IN a notable moa-
sure In respect 20 the establishment ]
shall specially consider
Our MFN.
The great bulk Of our men arc natives
not only OF Richmond and Manchester,
but Of the adjacent and rcrnOtcr counties
lima We have men IN our shops work
ing at their machines as well born and
well bred as any OF their employers.
while the increasing difficulty Of making
"a living on the old farm is driving the
very flower Of The country youth TO the
cities ln search OF a living.
Tho Locomotive Works has thus had the
pick of some splendid fellows. and many
moro arc seeking work there.
There length of time Of service no long
Ct counts as proof that a man is a mo
chauic. Wc know some men never make
mechanics. others Lccomc accomplished
iu "A much shorter time than is usually
allowed. The present plan stimulates a
learner 10 learn. ard not 20 kin time.
When We undertook the construction Of
the machinery OF the b1tteship Texas IL
was objected that we had no local me-
chanics familiar with the requirements
and close working cNacted by the United
states Bureau of Steam Engineering. and
so We had TO bring them from the North.
AS this difficult work progressed. how
ever. the men from abroad were gradual
" dropped. and before the work was
turned over TO the Government we had
practically none but our own home peo-
pie ON the Job After they came TO under
stand what was 10 be done. they simply
outclasscd their competitors.
HOME woRKMRN
IN the same way Wnen We began loco
motive building exclusively. the depart
mcut for making heavy forgings directly
from scrap WAS entirely new TO our local
mechanics. Men from the North were
employed 20 rum our steam hammers.
hut now the best men VIC have ever had
on this difficult work were raised right
here.
Drop forgings have been comparatively
80 recently introduced that a few years
ago the number OF drop-hammer smiths
was very limited ono of the most skill
fol men OF this class, who worked here
for us a year or more. left when work
became slack, and now that work has
begun again one OF our local smiths Is
doing Just as good work.
In our boiler-shops we have just now
as foreman a northern man, who has
worked la some OF the best establishments
iu the country. We recently built by piece
work a dozen locomotive boilers FOR the
Grand Trunk railroad and yet the boiler
makers turned them out with such Ia
cility that they made over so per cent. bo-
nus on their days wages. This caused an
Investigation OF what seemed excessive
rates allowed for the work. The foreman.
however. protested that even with these
profits 10 the workmcn. the boilers were
constructed more cheaply than he had
ever known such work 20 be done
IL is now conceded that the per diem