The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-08-31
TO BE USED IN THE CAPITOL.
PROTESTS AGAINST FOREIGN
STONE HEARD BY THE COM
MISSION YESTERDAY.
To Determine the Preference of the
Commissioners as to the Ma
teriaI to BE Used.

stone shall be used in the new build
| ing and will let the contract today; at
| least the balloting will commence this
morning and the members are conf
dent that the result will be reached
without much further delay.
The board convened yesterday after
noon with all members present, includ-
ing Gov. Clough, who is the president
of the board and an ex-officio member.
Vice President Seabury invited him to
take the chair, but he declined as, he
remarked, he hadn't voice in the pro-
ceedings anyway and he was so busy
he couldn't stay the session out. Very
little business was transacted beyond
hearing the protests of representatives
| of several Minneapolis labor organiZa-
| lions against the use of other than
| Minnesota stone. The usual lobby Of
contractors was again on hand, loiter-
| ing about the corridors in the imme
| diate vicinity of the chambers in
which the board was holding its eX-
ecutive session, but none of them had
any further arguments to bring before
that body. Among them were Messrs.
Amberg and Hinsdale, of Chicago, rep
pany, w. c. Baxter, of Minneapolis;
Lauer, of Lauer Brothers, st. Paul;
| Morris, of Norcross Brothers, of Bos-
| ton; Mccormack, of Hennessey & Cox,
| of. st. Paul, and others.
| John Swift. organizer of the Trades
and Labor council, of Minneapolis,
and Dan Collins, president of the Min
neapolis Building Trades council, went
before the board to enter the protest
formulated by those bodies; they said
they didn't presume to dictate what
kind of stone should be used but
| wanted it to be from Minnesota; that
Minnesota stone was the equal of any
in the world for this building, and its
use would mean employment for
great many more men right at home.
| P. H. Coogan, president of the gran
lite cutters union, also had his little
| say. He announced that the granite
cutters of this state were watching the
result of the boards deliberations with
interest; that there was very little
work for them at present, and if this
job went outside it would mean that
fully 80 per cent of them would be
obliged to go elsewhere and look for
something to do.
While on this subject, the following
letter was read from w. R. Worden,
president of the stone cutters. associa-
ton, of Minneapolis, d separate and
distinct organization from the others
mentioned:
Minneapolis, Aug. 20, 1897.
To the Board of Capitol Commissioners:
| Observation-Disclosures that it is the pur-
nf n contract
for the state capitol on Monday next, and
having read in the public press good deal
of trash purporting to come from organized
| labor, l want to say this:
First. it was reported in the Journal that
the stone cutters had passed strong resolu-
lions calling for Minnesota stone. AS presi-
dent of the stone cutters association and
having been present at every meeting dur
ing the year, | want to say, no such reso
lutions were ever presented, discussed or
passed by the stone cutters. Our interests
do not lay in that direction. 1 am aware
that some thinkers and tailors, BARRIERS and
candlestick makers whose knowledge of the
facts relative to this question of stone are
as limited as their financial interests in it,
have passed resolutions, ETC., but we hope the
commission will give them such consideration
as they are entitled to and no more.
In the Saturday evening Journal is an
article headed: mo Georgia Marble and
states that organized labor will not tolerate
any truth in it, the stone cutters have not
been consulted, and why? Surely their
knowledge and interests in the matter are as
great as that of any other body of men in
the state. The position of the stone cutters
is this We do not want granite. Our reasons
are that granite means home material and
imported labor. There is not dozen resident
granite cutters in the Twin Cities
Gentlemen, import the stone rather than
the labor, and, further, granite means great
pile of rough stone with neither ornament or
beauty. Note the Minneapolis court house
and city hall. Kettle River stone we don't
want, but would prefer it to granite. The
nxyfrn ncf Of
wages small. 1t must necessarily be so to
compete with other sandstones, as it costs
from 80 to 30 per cent more to dress it than
other sandstones and is inferior when done.
W1nona stone we do not object to- but it
seems to be rather an unknown quantity.
CaEdidly there is no other stone in the state
fit to use-in the building.
1t seems to us that in a matter of so
much Importance sentiment should be laid
on the shelf and the stone that will give us
the best and handsomest building for the
least money should be selected.
Finally, we want to see the commission
build us building that we can point to with
pride. We want the work done the ground
spectively. W. R. Worden.
President of the Stone Cutters Association,
Minneapolis
The commissioners spent a short
time in discussing the various phases
of the puzzle as presented to them.
but took no action; they did not even
take vote to learn the sentiment Of
the DOafd IN reference to the stone,
but several of them expressed their
views in that regard. 1t is known that
the Winona stone has some warm ad-
mirerS among them, but whether they
are in the majority only time will tell.
One thing in connection with the use
of this stone, which has not been
brought out before, is that the con-
tractors bidding on it reserved the
right to use some other stone for the
largest blocks, in case that they could
not be gotten out of the Winona quar-
rieS.
In speaking Of the use of marble.
one of the contractors remarked that
while it might do for the South and
the Pacific coast, it was impracticable
to use it in this climate, that it would
not prove durable where we have so
much change in temperature; it would
be all right for few years, but would
then commence to crumble and chin
off.
Ed Weaver brought in a new sample
of stone yesterday. 1t is a buff colored
marble and was quarried near Austin.
this state. There is a large ledge of It.
covering twenty acres and it runs in
strata of from eight inches to three
feet thick. The land is owned by 0.
w. Shaw, of Austin, and borders on
the Shellrock river. Prof. WinchelI
has been shown a sample of it and