The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-08-21
Is Vehement In His
Utterances of Pa
drone System.
STATE STRADDLES THE ISSUE.
Business Men May Call Up
on the Legislature to
Mitigate the Wrong.

Clinton, Aug. 2O.-The executive
committee of the Clinton Business
Mems Association are scheduled to
meet tomorrow evening to go over
the report of Thomas Dawson Tate
relative to the padrone system. Mr..
Tate has been invited to be present
at the session. The committee needs
his services to explain various matters
which are referred to in the report, but
not stated in details. The executive
committee is composed of some of the
best known business men in town: w.
A. Wishart, F. B. Ellis, Joseph e. Har-
rity, David Dias. F. w. Hartwell War
rem Goodale, E. L. Plummer and Her
man Dietzman. The report was re-
ferred to the committee by the mem
bers at the regular meeting, last Mon
day.
If the committee sees fit to adopt the
recommendation of the report there is
little it can do at present.
Mr.. Tate advises that the metropoli-
tan water board be held to responsible
ity for the abuses he has disclosed, and
that the legislature be appealed to for
the remedy.
Mr.. Tate will stick to his ideas. He
said this afternoon: 1.-THE reason why
| think 1t is the Legislature that should
be appealed to rather than the board,
Is that think the board knows better
than we do what is going on in the ba-
SIM Some of these matters have been
brought to it's attention, and have ex-
tracted from the board hypocritical as
surances that it was ready to correct
any abuses that could be proved to it's
satisfaction
1T is in the word proof that the
trouble comes. There is no such thing
as proving a case before the metropoI-
ltan water board. 1t is, to begin with
partlceps criminis. If it were not, the
situation would be the same. The
board has neither power to summon
witnesses, nor the right to demand the
attendance Of witnesses. If witnesses
came before the board, it could not
compel them to disclose anything they
did not choose to relate.
Assume, for instance, that it was
desired to prove that there was a con-
tract between one of the contractors
ana padrone, by which the padrone
received the right to discharge men who
boarded with him. 1t is conceivable
that something more would be needed
on that point than the testimony of men
who had been discharged for such rea-
son. 1t would be desirable to hear
what the contractor had to say, and
what the padrone had to say under
oath.
again let US assume that the case in
point was the claim that the men are
compelled to pay sum for the privilege
OF pelng employed to the padrone; and
that the padrone divides with the con-
tractor. Would not the presence of the
padrone and the contractor be most es-
sential, and would not the books of con-
tractors and padrones thus concerned
be likely to bear eloquent testimony?
When the board says 1t wants proof,
1t merely proclaims in another way that
the spadrone system, and the cores
ponding abuses of labor, has it's support
what would be thought of the board Of
police commissioners of Worcester If
upon being informed that citizens were
oelng held up, two or three a night, and
robbed, they should reply: Prove tip
Would not the board say to it's police.
investigate the matter; stop it, if it,
so.
The metropolitan water board has
been approached several times with in
formation that things are gravely
wrong in its jurisdiction It's ultimatum
has always been, Prove it, 1t is beyond
even the fardihood Of the board, appar-
CheAJJ " de1ly that dDuS6S exist.
1T has never said, for instance, we
have investigated our system Of en-
ploying labor, and the padrone has
nothing to do with it. We have in
vestigated, and find that our men are
not overeharged for what they eat. Our
mon do pay q. bonus for their Jobs
They do not say, We have inves-
tigsted and find that citizen laborers
are employed on the basin Why don't
they?
THE law says that citizens of the com
monwealth shall have the first chance
to be employed.
IF none are employed, one of two
things is true. There are no citizens in
Massachusetts who want work on this;
or the law is being violated. When a
state commission violates the law, the
legislature is the proper tribunal to deal
with that commission. The commission
is not the proper tribunal to deal with
itself. This is the way l see it,"